Great Burnt Copper-Gold Property - A Project Update

ACCESSWIRE18 Apr 2019, 22:07 GMT+10

PUSLINCH, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 18, 2019 / Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SHL) - ('Spruce Ridge' or the 'Company') Spruce Ridge holds 100 percent interest in the Great Burnt property in central Newfoundland. John A. Ryan, CEO, is pleased to present this update of the Great Burnt property and the status of its activities.

MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATES

A 43-101 technical report addressed to Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd, with an effective date of September 4th, 2015, by P&E Mining Consultants Inc, estimated mineral resources for the Great Burnt copper deposit as well as the South Pond 'A' copper-gold zone. The Great Burnt copper deposit is divided into three zones: the Main, Lower and North Stringer Zones. Table 1 gives the reserve estimates (the South Pond 'A' Zone mineral resource estimates were subsequently revised by P&E after additional documentation on copper and gold assays in the 1980s was located).

TABLE 1: GREAT BURNT MINERAL RESOURCE AT 1.00% Cu CUTOFF

Class of Resource

Tonnes

Grade Cu (%)

Cu, pounds (Au, oz)

Great Burnt Main Zone

Indicated

360,000

2.65% Cu

21,000,000

Inferred

239,000

2.44% Cu

12,900,000

Great Burnt Lower Zone

Indicated

22,000

3.23% Cu

1,600,000

Inferred

424,000

2.23% Cu

20,800,000

North Stringer Zone

Indicated

13,000

1.24% Cu

400,000

South Pond 'A' Deposit

Indicated

47,000

1.77% Cu, 1.61 g/t Au

1,800,000 (2,400)

Inferred

191,000

1.51% Cu, 1.06 g/t Au

6,500,000 (6,500)

Totals

Indicated

442,000

2.55% Cu

24,800,000 (2,400)

Inferred

854,000

2.13% Cu

40,200,000 (6,400)

GREAT BURNT MAIN ZONE

In the 2016 drilling program, four closely spaced holes (GB16-08 to 16-11) were drilled into the Main Zone to obtain core samples for a proposed program of metallurgical test work prior to a contemplated Preliminary Economic Analysis (PEA). Three of the four returned much higher copper grades than expected. The grades of the core samples were therefore not representative of the deposit as a whole, and the metallurgical work and PEA were postponed. Gold values were reported for several sampled intervals, but they did not reproduce well and further work is needed to make any estimate of the overall gold content of the Main Zone.

In the 2018 drilling program, six holes were drilled on the Main Zone. Four of these holes also returned good grades and widths. Split core from these drill holes was preserved in vacuum-packed bags, and will be added to cores preserved in deep-freeze from the 2016 drilling, to be used in planned metallurgical testing.

Table 2 lists all the drill intercepts on the Main Zone, with true width (TW) calculated or measured from cross sections, and grade-thickness products (GTP) which are the multiples of true widths and copper grades (Cu TW). Intercepts with GTP less than 2 have been excluded. The 2016 and 2018 drill holes are highlighted in yellow.

The GTP has been gridded and displayed in colour for clarity. The outline of a 'starter pit' as conceptualized by P&E is also shown.

PLANNED WORK ON THE GREAT BURNT MAIN ZONE

1: Diamond Drilling: The longitudinal section on the company's website shows targets for 15 proposed drill holes, designed to add new data that will make a revised resource estimate for the Main Zone more robust. Eleven of the holes will test the zone within the limits of the conceptualized starter pit. These drill holes comprise approximately 2,500 metres of diamond drilling, planned for the summer of 2019. Down-hole electromagnetic surveying is also planned to be performed on the deeper holes, to search for downward extensions of the zone.

2: Metallurgical testing: Preliminary metallurgical test work is planned, using drill core preserved from the 2016 and 2018 drilling programs.

3: Revised Mineral Resource and PEA: All the post-2015 drilling data will be incorporated in an updated mineral resource estimate and PEA, which is expected to be based on a starter pit, similar to the one outlined on the longitudinal section, followed by underground mining of the remainder of the Main Zone and the Lower Zone.

GREAT BURNT LOWER ZONE

The Great Burnt Lower Zone is a relatively flat lying zone, with a moderate dip to the southeast. It may be a folded continuation of the Main Zone, or a physically separate zone. It has been drilled on a wide spacing. A visualization on the Company's website illustrates the geometry of the Main and Lower Zones. The best historic drill intercept on the Lower Zone, in hole GB130, averaged 3.49% Cu over 11.62 metres (TW approximately 8.34 metres), including 8.54% Cu over 1.98 metres (TW approximately 1.47 metres). There are no drill holes that penetrate the plane of the Lower Zone within 75 metres of the GB130 pierce point.

Two of the drill intercepts that had been previously interpreted as being in the Lower Zone, GB90 and GB135, appear, on the latest analysis, to align themselves better with the Main Zone, and are included in Table 2 and shown on the current longitudinal section.

PLANNED WORK ON THE GREAT BURNT LOWER ZONE

1: Diamond Drilling and down-hole EM surveying: A further 2,500 metres is planned to firm up the resource estimate on the Lower Zone, also with down-hole EM surveying to look for extensions of the zone and/or new zones in the vicinity.

SOUTH POND ZONES

The South Pond 'A' copper-gold zone (see mineral resource estimates in Table 1) is open at depth and requires additional drilling to fully delineate it. The South Pond 'B' zone is 1,100 metres long and comprises only gold mineralization; with drill intercepts of up to 4.75 g/t Au over 4.33 metres (true width 3.0 metres) and 1.16 g/t Au over 28 metres (true width approximately 25 metres). It is also open at depth and requires further drilling. If the Company is successful in obtaining a permit to cut an access trail from the Great Burnt Main Zone to the South Pond 'B' zone the plan would be to drill a couple of holes to confirm the results from drilling that was done in the early 80's.

ADDITIONAL EXPLORATION TARGETS

A helicopter-borne EM and magnetic survey of the 15-kilometre long Great Burnt property was performed in 2007 by Aeroquest International for a previous operator. A re-appraisal of the data has indicated several rather subtle EM anomalies with similar characteristics to the Great Burnt Main Zone that remain to be tested. Also, prospecting from previous operators located mineralized boulders with up to 2.5% zinc and 13% copper in grab samples, in an area called the End Zone, 6 kilometres north of the Great Burnt Main Zone. The Company has no immediate plans for this target, or any of a handful of other exploration-level targets on the property; proposing to dedicate its exploration activities on the Great Burnt Main and Lower Zones.